Comments on: A New Direction on Research at the USDA? Some Experts Weigh In On What We Need to Know Now About Agriculture http://civileats.com/2009/10/15/a-new-direction-on-research-at-the-usda-some-experts-weigh-in-on-what-we-need-to-know-now/ Just another WordPress weblog Sat, 20 Mar 2010 15:51:50 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 By: Stephanie http://civileats.com/2009/10/15/a-new-direction-on-research-at-the-usda-some-experts-weigh-in-on-what-we-need-to-know-now/comment-page-1/#comment-4214 Stephanie Thu, 15 Oct 2009 16:56:24 +0000 http://civileats.com/?p=5260#comment-4214 The research foci highlighted by Ariane Lotti are important because they would help pave the way for establishing a more sustainable food and agricultural SYSTEM in the United States. It seems necessary to focus research on topics that will push our food production and distribution system in the U.S. and worldwide in sustainable directions. This would include work on problem identification, as many of the traditional research questions in agriculture remain framed in rationales originating from eras whose priorities and questions are not as relevant in today's environment, where we are facing problems such as climate change, food insecurity, and major ecosystem-level changes due to agricultural land use and other land use changes. I would have liked to see some of your queries go out to people who actually conduct research on agricultural systems, or at least those who are closer to the process - perhaps deans of land grant universities or agronomists and other researchers who currently work on agricultural systems - as they are the ones who will be primarily participating in setting the research agenda from the standpoint of proposal writing and problem identification. Good post! The research foci highlighted by Ariane Lotti are important because they would help pave the way for establishing a more sustainable food and agricultural SYSTEM in the United States. It seems necessary to focus research on topics that will push our food production and distribution system in the U.S. and worldwide in sustainable directions. This would include work on problem identification, as many of the traditional research questions in agriculture remain framed in rationales originating from eras whose priorities and questions are not as relevant in today’s environment, where we are facing problems such as climate change, food insecurity, and major ecosystem-level changes due to agricultural land use and other land use changes.

I would have liked to see some of your queries go out to people who actually conduct research on agricultural systems, or at least those who are closer to the process – perhaps deans of land grant universities or agronomists and other researchers who currently work on agricultural systems – as they are the ones who will be primarily participating in setting the research agenda from the standpoint of proposal writing and problem identification.

Good post!

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